The Agathiel Vigilante from the Spymaster's Handbook (page 25) handles animal transformation differently than most classes.
equipment does not meld into his form, and instead
changes shape to fit his animal form and provides the same
function, though any equipment requiring hands cannot be
used until he returns to his social identity.
I assume that the vigilante's armor would provide the same protection in animal form as it would in character form. Taking a level steelblood bloodrager (ACG p. 85) would give the vigilante heavy armor proficiency that would should carry over to animal form. My character could also pick up an Amulet of Natural Armor and a Ring of Protection to help with AC. Is there any other defensive boost that would last at least an hour?
^3
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A dusty rose prism ioun stone for +1 insight to AC.
If you have a gap between max dex bonus on your armor and your actual dex bonus, perhaps because you paid thru the nose for mithral full plate, boosting your dex works.
You can get a familiar by trading in the level 1 bloodrager power. With the protector archetype it can aid another your AC easily.
Debuffing the enemy (intimidate via Cornugon Smash, tripping, dirty tricks, etc.) lowers their attack bonus.
Feats like Combat Expertise, Dodge or Armor Focus though they're often a poor return on investment do qualify. Fighting defensively without CE would also raise your AC of course.
A dusty rose prism ioun stone for +1 insight to AC.
If you have a gap between max dex bonus on your armor and your actual dex bonus, perhaps because you paid thru the nose for mithral full plate, boosting your dex works.
You can get a familiar by trading in the level 1 bloodrager power. With the protector archetype it can aid another your AC easily.
Debuffing the enemy (intimidate via Cornugon Smash, tripping, dirty tricks, etc.) lowers their attack bonus.
Feats like Combat Expertise, Dodge or Armor Focus though they're often a poor return on investment do qualify. Fighting defensively without CE would also raise your AC of course.
Thank you. Do any spells come to mind? Normally Mage Armor would be a good option to boost an animal's AC but that does not stack with full plate armor. Shield is a neat spell but it does not last very long.
If your amulet of natural armor has a lower bonus than barkskin at your current level a friend might be able to help you out there, similarly with magic vestment.
I'm struggling to come up with other spells which have a long enough duration. Ablative armor won't help your AC but turning some damage into nonlethal might be useful. Eaglesoul is personal-only and you're not a high-level caster. Sorry.